A Strawberry for a Lich
by MindlessAbnormity
Summary: Julianna Fyre has now settled within a comfortable position as a healer to Palawa Joko's dreadful Awakened forces after a lengthened amount of time. Comfortableness aside, it is not without reason the woman is still finding ways of getting herself into troubling situations either for better or for worse.
1. Books and Letters

**I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story. **

**Author's** **Note: **Back at it again with more shenanigans. This story takes place some time after _Tending the Dead_, so if you're not familiar with it, that then I would suggest giving a wee little peak at that first.

xxx

Palawa Joko, the Scourge of too many titles that any one person could actually remember, was currently leaning over the desk within his macabre decorated office. An array of letters, maps and contracts were strewn haphazardly across the furniture's surface in front of him. The pieces of parchment were vandalized in angry red marks from glaring red ink that was stained into the very fibers of the paper's being. The weapon responsible for such angry markings bled from the feathered Ntouka quill within the lich's clawed hand, as it was now hovering over the ruby well of ink. The bird-like animal on the Elonian plains had long since been extinct, as the powerful being holding the remnant of a feather had been solely to blame for such an atrocity.

Though he certainly cared very little or even at all for the bothersome creatures.

The office area was decorated as one might expect from a lich who had surpassed the usual lifetime for a mortal. Bookcases lined most of the walls, the shelves stuffed to the brim with immeasurable amounts of tomes and knowledge that had been acquired over the long lifetime. The books in the collection were categorized in no particular order, which made it a scholar's worst nightmare as they had just been crammed into the space whenever a new title had been acquired. The various text ranged from dangerous and ancient looking spell-books, to questionable looking titles that one would take a second glance at. Some of the book's spines were worn and tattered, barely held together anymore by the stitches and glue desperately clinging on while others looked like they had never even been picked up.

The room was near suffocating with the amount of incense candles burning in near every corner of the room, and it did little to hide the unmistakable stench of decades of dust that was just about littering every single available surface. If there was a nook or cranny for dust to get into, it was very much assured that a distressing layer of it was sitting there.

The rest of the space was decorated similarly of the grotesque nature, sprinkled with gaudy amounts of wealth atop it. Banners of differing sizes and colors weaved in and out from each other on the ceiling, resembling to that of a brightly dyed spiderweb. A large candle-lit, bone chandelier hung from the middle of it all, as it appeared to have been made from a handful of poor soul's rib cages.

Back at the desk, the undead ruler's sunken-in looking eyes darted over the lines of paper for the umpteenth time that night as he shifted in the chair. Dark blue eyes were glossed over with an opaque sheen of un-death as they observed the written words on the paper below. It had recently been brought to his attention that The Amnoon Oasis was currently thriving extraordinarily well without his intervention.

And that presented a growing cause of issue for a powerful necromancer who had prided himself on the upbringing of an empire that he sought to take over and control entirely.

The game he had been playing in order to turn over the name of Elona's continent had been an achingly slow one. But for someone who had been gifted within the wealth of immortality, it had simply meant that it was a game he could easily play nothing but winning hands at. Rather than using just brute force to take what he wanted, Joko had preemptively planned all of his moves to painstakingly long turns that always ended in his favor. He was a master manipulator, and he had built his empire through deceit and lies. He had conquered a domain through an elaborate display of strategic prowess, and he very much prided himself on that personal accomplishment.

He scowled, a sneer crossing his face as though he had just smelt something incredibly heinous. "I'm still in disbelief those damnable Corsairs would actually even dare to build a city away from my glorious reign."

The only other living person standing on the far opposite side of the room, was currently surveying the books aligned neatly on the dust-ridden shelves. A bouncy head of light colored curls turned around to address the sudden distaste practically oozing from the lich. A single brow rose in confusion for but a brief second, and its owner clicked their tongue before decidedly thinking twice about the comment she was about to make towards the immature outburst from the undead ruler.

"Do you really blame them for building a city like that though? They probably wanted to get away from your stink." the woman asked, the words rolling out without hesitance. She decided she was well enough distance away that her comment couldn't get her into too much trouble. Of course that was proven to be a false understanding the second she was able to feel a strong swell of dark magic pulse in her arm.

A noise of discomfort left her mouth, her other hand flying to area before it was followed by a string of some unusual-sounding curses. "Son of a Skritt, really? I still don't think I'm ever going to get used to that..."

Joko watched in satisfaction from his desk as a few stray strands of lingering necromantic magic dispersed from his hand. He watched with interest as the person frantically grabbed at her arm in an attempt to quell the uncomfortable feeling that he was ever so graciously responsible for. His decrepit face held nothing but an outlandish, false innocence when she shot back a heated glare towards him and stuck her tongue out from across the room. The corners of his mouth were stretched almost impossibly wide, before he returned the immature gesture right back at the other person.

Julianna Fyre, the wayward healer to his Awakened forces that he had so willingly acquired and carefully wrapped around his bony finger, had been a valuable irregularity within his immortal life. His original plans for the person had been to do away with her hide once he deemed her help to be inconsequential, but she had proven otherwise through her sheer, stubborn will of refusing to bend to his knee. There were very few mortals that would ever dare to show such bullheadedness towards his cause, but the woman had provided him an excellent source of entertainment because of such. And it was because of that which had allowed her to somehow worm her way towards his blackened husk of a heart. The two had seemingly grown on each other through the time together, even though it was anything but healthy.

The Awakened forces themselves were reanimated cadavers brought back to the world of the living through powerful necromantic magic, however that did not mean they could go without mending when the needs arises. The bodies were held together with magic and tar, and as stable and reinforced as that was, there were still frequent occasions when wounds became too dire to heal on their own. Sticky, tar soaked bandages were usually the go-to answers for soldiers on the front lines of battle, but sometimes that just wasn't enough when thickened skin was flayed open by a well placed slash across a vulnerable body part.

If wounds were proven to be dire enough, then that was where the job of an immediate mender came in to otherwise deal with as appropriately. Healing magic could still be used on the Awakened, and it came in handy for such situations when soldiers desperately needed the aid so they could return back to the fight for their unquestionable God-King.

For the stubborn woman, she often thought it painfully ironic that someone with such divine skills was now mending the walking dead instead. Never once did she think during her dull but comfortable job back in Lion's Arch once upon a time, that she would now be residing here and healing undead soldiers instead of the pirates and merchants as she once did.

She still rubbed at the spot on her arm where the lich had pushed an uncomfortable swell of magic underneath her skin. Her fingers lightly grazed over the bandaging, knowing full well of the nightmarish horror that lay underneath and why the necromancer was able to bring such discomfort. Her thoughts about the matter were cut short when her offender spoke up again.

"You were saying, tart?" he asked, smiling all-too innocently again as he waved around the feathered quill in his hand.

"Nothing, oh grumpy bag of bones...", she mumbled back with the designated nickname of her own, sighing and looking back to the various bookshelves of text instead.

After a long pause between the two, she spoke up again after thinking on the previously mentioned matter brought to attention. "Anyway, I thought Amnoon had been on the map for some time?" she asked, thinking back when she had first heard mention of it through a helpful traveling merchant.

The lich looked down to the circle spot sitting on the map of Crystal Oasis. His previous jubilant mood shifted all too quickly without much prediction, and he angrily scribbled red atop the city's location on the weathered looking parchment that was once used for a merchant's trade route description. This was just one more issue added atop the plethora of other problems on an already overfilled plate.

He sighed loudly through the remnants of his nose. "Indeed it has. Before, it hardly could have been called an outpost and it was barely anything of significant value for me to even consider. Though unfortunately I've let the place fester like an infected wound on its own for far too long now", Joko said with bitterness in his voice, putting the writing utensil back into the ink well and leaning back into his bone-decorated chair as he laced his clawed hands together and let his elbows rest on the chair ends. "It seems those brazen peasants residing inside of it have actually managed to make a name for the pathetic place."

Julianna said nothing to the comment, as she merely shifted from foot to foot in her place in a nervous gesture. Although she was working for someone who was considered incredibly cruel and unpredictable, she was near the complete opposite in personality compared to that of the terrifying undead ruler. It was truly a wonder how someone with a bleeding heart like herself had attracted the attention of someone who regularly only looked after himself. She returned back to her previous task of browsing through titles in search of something decent she could pick up and start reading in her before-bed nightly ritual.

The tarnished-gold wearing lich simply continued with his outward verbal monologue. "This issue has now subsequently fallen into my lap as I need to deal with the place appropriately before the blister of a city is allowed to grow any more. I would much rather find a solution that can greatly benefit more of my own cause in the long-run compared to taking an assaulting force though."

"You could send a representative asking the city to take your side?" the healer offered, a lone finger pointing towards worn-looking spines before finding something of interest and pulling it out. This inevitable situation of Joko intervening on the peaceful city certainly wasn't ideal for those living within the independent sea-faring harbor, but she would rather a solution that resorted without violence if necessary.

"I'd prefer to make that particular move once I have a better understanding of how the city is operating without my own omniscient intervention though", Joko replied with another huff of breath. He looked over to the wall with one of the many commissioned paintings he had done of himself while thinking over the next plan of action for Amnoon. His narcissistic self-admiration was shifted away when he suddenly noticed how bothered his favorite source of entertainment suddenly looked after pulling a certain book out. Even from the furthered distance, he could see how reddened her freckled face had become as she was quickly and unsuccessfully trying to shove the object back into the place she had pulled it from.

"Find something of interest?" he asked, a sly brow raising high above into his gilded headdress as he easily recognized the cover.

"N-no. Imp gall... of course not. Look, I know I've asked before from looking through your library, but you still don't have any tomes in here pertaining to the healing arts, do you?" Julianna asked, stumbling through words while keeping her face hidden away from the peering gaze watching her. She was desperately trying to move thoughts away from the horror of the title her eyes had just discovered. Although she had searched through the collection a number of times, it had been unsuccessful as the only thing even related to medical details had been through texts describing concepts of anything post-mortem.

"No", Joko answered back quickly, watching the clear show of disappointment present itself upon the woman's still reddened face. His thoughts backtracked to the previous book that had obviously caused evident embarrassment. "Well if you need a book on anatomy, I certainly have-"

His suggestive comment was prematurely interrupted by the hasty sound of the door knocking and then quickly opening.

Grand Vizier Utumishi, the head of Palawa Joko's civil governance, cautiously peeked his head through the door. He had learned one too many times from past mistakes of the consequences from coming through uninvited. His eyes set on the woman across the room whose face currently looked to that of a blaring red beacon. The man's formal mask disappeared for a brief second so he could glare at the person before his regal air of formality immediately returned. The man had nothing but a show of displeasure towards the woman, as he had always deemed her as completely worthless ever since first meeting the lout of a person.

"My King, pardon the interruption but I thought it of the utmost importunate to tell you of Archon Iberu's imminent return upon this following morning", the adviser began, holding out a letter from a courier that noted the high-ranking officer's return across the Vabbian border. "He made sure to mention in his letter how thrilled he was to stand within your exorbitant and impressive self once more. Also that it was to get into your hands as soon as possible."

Joko paused from his current dealings, listening to the written brown-nosing of words from one of his more promising subordinates. The lich stood and walked across the fine-fibered rugs littering the floor, hastily taking the outstretched piece of paper before greedily reading over the boasting, praised words once again as he soaked them in.

Julianna was still inwardly reeling over the unknown naivety that was composed from the undead's comment as her brain couldn't discern if he already knew what she had found and was simply pulling her leg even further. She remained planted in the same spot in the room, half listening to the conversation anymore as she fiddled around with the scarab-decorated ring on her finger.

Had she actually been listening to the conversation at hand, she likely would have rolled her eyes and shook her head at the praised words, as she was still not truly understanding how such a bloated ego could be fed anymore than it already was.

"The Archon's arrival aside, have you decided yet on what will be occurring with this bad business of Amnoon yet?" Utumishi asked, craning his neck up considerably to address the much taller person in front of him. Height had never been one of the adviser's stronger physical traits, as the man was practically dwarfed by his superior. However what he lacked in stature, he decidedly made up for in both wit and blinding devotion.

"It's certainly beginning the foundations of being plotted out", the undead ruler replied, his tone pleasantly light as his mood seemed quite good all of a sudden. "A foreseeable, diplomatic trip will likely be made there in order to better configure how I wish to ultimately deal with the location. Something of which can be done in secrecy without bringing an army to their front door."

"An excellent plan, yes", the much shorter man agreed. His brows drew closely together in misunderstanding though. "However I'm confused. How will you be visiting the city without bringing alarm to those that very well know of you?"

"Details my little mutton-head, details", the lich continued, waving his hands around expressively as inklings of ideas were already beginning to sprout within his rotting skull.

Joko cleared his throat once he deemed their conversation to be over. "Well then, with that matter at least settled for the time being, I think I'll be retiring for the night Utumishi", he noted, handing back the letter after reading it over one times too many necessary. "Oh, and a favor if you would."

"Of course, anything for the magnificent King Joko", Utumishi said without any strain in his voice. He held nothing but the upmost respect for his ruler, and he couldn't bother to fathom how someone like the detestable healer could even show but anything but pure admiration. She had remained loyal through the number of years she had been around, but that hadn't been without some rather questionable choices she had made near the beginning of her career with the Awakened forces.

"Do we have any more of those desserts we brought back from our last visit to the Gardens of Seborhin?" the undead ruler asked from seemingly nowhere, turning his head to the side while trying to think back to the delectable dinner that had been prepared during his last visit.

"You mean the sweet Cassavana root truffles?" Utumishi asked slowly, raising a dark brow as he tugged on the end of his long goatee in thought. Although their group had been fed with the most bountiful of meals, they had also been bequeathed with an assortment of bagged leftovers for the trip back home. It was more than enough, and far more than necessary considering Awakened no longer even had the biological function of satisfying their hunger anymore.

"Ah yes, that was it", the lich replied with a snap of his fingers as the answer had been right on the money. He drummed his fingers together, the tar-stained armor on each digit clattering noisily against each other with the movement. "I do so love those savory little things. Do be a peach and bring them back to my room, would you?"

If one was observing closely enough, they might have been able to detect just the briefest moment of hesitance from the civil adviser. Though it lasted just less than even a second. The near-balding man nodded with an impassive face. "But of course. Anything else you require."

"Now that you mention it, bring back that bottle of Djinnspit wine we were gifted with as well", Joko added. "Might as well not let the thing go to waste quite yet. Our poor little healer has her nerves all up in a tizzy at the moment and she could do with a good glass of the beverage."

"Excuse me?", Julianna shouted from her place, whipping around upon hearing the last part of that comment. She half-debated grabbing a book from the shelf and throwing it across the room at the lich's head. And grabbing another piece of random literature and throwing it at Utumishi just because the man deserved it for some reason or another.

"Yes, I shall return promptly then", Utumishi acknowledged, nodding his head and swiftly returning back to the door before disappearing into the hallway once more. The sooner he returned with his task and the items in hand, then the better chances he had before he walked in on something he was bound to regret. He had done that too many times already, and some of the images were burned into his mind forever unfortunately.

But as he left, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation back in the room.

_"I couldn't help but noticed how flustered you got over a particular book you picked up earlier", Joko began. "Judging by your reaction to it, I have a fairly good idea of what it was."_

_"Don't you dare...", Julianna threatened._

_"No need to act so shy about it all of a sudden. 'Palawa After Dark: Intimate Portraits' is an excellent choice to pick out", the lich remarked, clear amusement sounding in his voice. "Besides, it's not like it's anything you haven't seen before anyway."_

_The Scourge's bold comment was followed by some verbal spillage of mumbled words that hardly constituted as a language._

_"Not funny!"_


	2. Unfinished Business

**I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story.**

**Author's** **Note: **Apologies for this chapter being a wee bit shorter than what I usually write. There's no good way to break it up without having this chapter be obnoxiously too long.

xxx

_The Scourge's bold comment was followed by some verbal spillage of mumbled words that hardly constituted as a language._

_"Not funny!"_

_..._

The following morning had begun just as similar to any other day within a dreary location such as the heart of the Desolation. The sun was hasty to rise high above the cragged looking mountainsides of the desert, which caused a bout of both uncomfortable and sweltering temperatures to those caught underneath its unforgiving rays. The Awakened didn't much need to care for uncomfortable conditions of the weather though, as it could do little damage to their already less than lively physical state. They ambled around throughout the entire area of the Bone Palace, continuing on with their daily tasks and patrols without any concern for the heat. Not a single one could be heard commenting to one another about the matter of the blistering sun, as they instead shared whispers of more pressing topics or tell-tale gossip.

Although the Awakened inhabitants were defined as reanimated cadavers brought back into the world of the living through powerful necromantic magic, that did not mean they were without quick speed to move around when a skirmish or situation called for it. Though it seemed to be that on sluggish days such as this, the undead were actually moving around just about as one would assume for a stitched together zombie that was filled with tar and decomposing organs. Activity around the Bone Palace was incredibly lackluster on this particular morning, and the day was continued just about as any other without any real excitement happening around the fortress.

Julianna was in the midst of her own appointed daily chores, which was to ensure the Awakened were prime and fit for battle by not falling apart by the seams. She mostly stuck to meandering around the training yard while following the shade of the imposing walls as it traveled around the perimeter throughout the setting day. Because she was still in a very squishy state of being that still made her susceptible to the sun, a heavy hooded cloak and scarf could only do so much when the heat was nearly unbearable.

The healer was currently standing in front of a random Awakened soldier that had come to her for immediate aid just a few moments ago. Her hand was gently cupping the bottom of his chin while he remained seated on the bone-ridden ground because his much taller height almost dwarfed the doctor. She briefly moved the skewered looking lower jaw back and forth to try and set it back into place once more, the bone looking entirely unhinged from its joints. Although the undead were proven to be incredibly resilient, her hands remained gentle as to not cause any further pain. The responsibility of taking care of patients that were more on the side of death rather than livelihood had definitely taken the healer quite some bit of time and conditioning of getting used to. And even, then her bleeding heart still ebbed her to work on the side of caution each time.

"So let me get this straight", she explained, her dark eyes set in concentration while trying to maneuver the bone to align back where it needed to go. "You dislocated your jaw because you thought you could win a fist fight against a stone elemental?"

The Awakened soldier mumbled something completely incomprehensible, as the lack of a working lower jaw wasn't allowing him proper speaking ability. His sharp yellow eyes rolled with a slight shake of his head, before looking past at the far wall with a guilty look. The chastising woman had reminded him of a mother figure some long, forgotten years ago.

"Hopefully we'll have learned from that mistake then...", Julianna replied with a resigned-sounding sigh. It hadn't been the first time she would have mended some otherworldly reason for an injury. The worst yet had still been the time some poor naive fellow who had gone on a dare to see if they could get a single crack on a Junundu egg without harm. Trying to mend decaying skin that had been mostly burned away from acidic wurm bile had been one of the more challenging tasks she had ever been faced with in her career.

She moved both her hands up to grip each sides of the undead's face, holding it particularly as she readied herself for the next step. "I'll count to three and then I'm going to push both sides back into place again, alright?"

The Awakened just nodded, seemingly unfazed by the orders but his body had gone rigid in anticipation.

"One."

"Two."

"Ah, well. What have we here? So this must be the Outlander garbage I've heard so much about", a new and booming voice from behind the duo spoke.

It caught the healer entirely off-guard in the moment, and she prematurely shifted the bone back where it needed to go without giving the verbal warning of a third number for her patient. The untimely action caused a surprised outcry from the Awakened soldier, and his heavy armor clad hands flew up to his face.

A flurry of frantic apologies left Juliannna's mouth the second she was made aware of the discomfort she had accidentally just caused. She poured a blue light of healing magic into her palms before returning them back towards her patient's face in order to try and alleviate any remaining pain that was still left-over from the debacle. The freckled woman watched with bothered concern as her patient swatted her hands away, clear irritation behind his own movement before he went to stand and tower over her again.

The undead soldier opened and closed his previously injured mouth a few times to check over the medical work, his once-irritated disposition clearing with satisfaction when he could feel things back into working condition once again. He nodded a head of approval and a verbal bid of thanks towards the healer before stalking off to return to his patrol once more as he did not want to be anywhere near the approaching person of concerning interest.

The woman's head of bouncy hair swiveled around with clear annoyance marked on her face while she looked around for the source of the interruption to her work. "Did you need something?" she asked, looking at the stranger walking up with the sound of crunching bone fragments beneath his heavy armored boots following him.

Although she didn't quite recognize the person immediately, she had a good inkling of who the man was just from the troubling rumors she had heard from her patients. Not only that, but his outfit was brightly dyed and gaudy enough with gold that it nearly screamed some sort of prestige within the army's ranks which gave her some kind of indication as to who he might be. Seeing how much jewelry and expensive material one was wearing was usually a good indication of someone's status in the Awakened forces as well, and it seemed this particular person was hardly lacking in the gaudy department of outfits.

"Certainly you can't be as deaf as you are foolish?" the man scoffed, waving a dismissive hand as he stopped before the person with a disgusted sounding tone behind his voice. He himself already knew well of who he was speaking to, but he hadn't been expecting such a nonthreatening looking individual after his initial expectation. This was especially even more so when he had been told that said person was believed to have supposedly had such close ties to their glorious, undead King. When he had first heard about the wayward woman living at the Bone Palace, he had honestly thought it was a poor delivered joke until told otherwise.

But now he was strongly reconsidering that again.

"Very funny...", Julianna replied simply in a dry tone, looking the man up and down while she addressed his attire once more. She dusted her hands off her pants in a nonchalant manner, her mouth running before she could properly think over the consequences of her words. "I didn't know one of the jesters from the Garden of Seborhin was missing."

A few of the Awakened that had been standing nearby in the training yard snickered under their breath at the comment, but their laughter was prematurely cut down by a swift gaze from the angry Archon that nearly exterminated them right there on the spot. They whistled innocently, looking around and feigning interest in some random bone that was littered on the ground.

"Incredibly bold words coming from someone like you", the Archon merely sneered back, the whites of his teeth showing as his lips curled backwards. Their color stood out brightly against the dark contrast of face makeup that ran down each of his eyes.

He continued when he didn't get an expected response from his newly appointed adversary. "I have to say, Iʼm quite disappointed in your lack of manners towards someone such as myself that is obviously in a much higher position than you. I certainly hope you donʼt speak to our beloved King in the same manner."

Julianna was just about to retaliate with another round of poorly chosen words herself, but she was interrupted before her mouth was allowed to run any further.

Suddenly another more familiar voice coming from the entrance of the throne room spoke up, as they had overheard the verbal arguing from afar and decided to finally intervene before any blood could be shed.

"Archon, as much as I would enjoy seeing the two of you battle it out, I would highly suggest against it", Grand Vizier Utumishi intervened, not even daring to look up from the book in his hand. He barely stood out from the archway into the inner palace, as he had been previously eavesdropping to their bickering the second he had heard the Archon's recognizable voice. "Even as bothersome as the lout is."

"This Outlander garbage should be punished for her audacity and blatant disrespect!", Iberu merely whined in response, turning to see the dutiful adviser sticking his nose in his current affairs as was accustomed to. He was more than familiar with the King's right hand stooge, as the Civil Adviser was usually the person to speak to if Joko was ever absent for whatever mundane reason.

"Trust me, if it were my decision, I would have rid away with the pest long ago", Utumishi continued, peering up from the pages of his book to deliver a short but sharp glare towards one of his least favorite persons. He was not surprised to see her stick her tongue out toward him as per her usual charades. "But unfortunately, youʼd have to take it up to King Joko himself if he decided any sort of punishment were to be out into effect."

Julianna just smiled brilliantly at the unexpected victory upon hearing the words, and she quickly returned back to her duty of bringing much needed healing to the wounded Awakened that were still waiting for healing aid nearby. She collected her things and turned away from the scene, deciding she had more than enough of that first impression from the less than pleasant Archon.

Iberu glared holes into the back of the womanʼs head until she was completely around the corner and fully out of sight, his fists surrounding themselves with a dark swell of magic before being prematurely dispersed. "You mean to tell me that he actually puts up with that?" he asked, turning back around himself and walking up the short ramp towards the awaiting person.

"Oh yes, that and so much more", Utumishi answered, no longer looking up from his book anymore as he too turned around to return back to his own previous task which was really nothing of immediate importance. "Itʼs truly still a wonder why King Joko took an interest in the pest. But I've learned from past mistakes that I am no such position to pose such questions to our ruler. Unless of course, as I've been told, that I want to become decorative furniture for the throne room."

The gold wearing Archon sneered, rolling his dark eyes at the foolishness he was hearing. "Is our illustrious ruler here present at his Palace today then?" he asked instead, looking out past the much shorter man to see inside the grand encompassing room just behind his company.

"He's still in the throne room still discussing something of importance with Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo at the moment. She also returned back earlier this morning from her recent trip to Istan", the adviser answered. He nodded his near-balding head behind him and tugged on his long-wiry goatee. "Interruptions or not, I am sure he would be pleased to see you Archon. We've been expecting your return."

"I'll be honored to greet him then", the high-ranking Mordant Crescent officer said, his superficial smile nearly sickening. "It'd be a good change of scenery to actually be within respectful company who sees me as nothing but a valuable asset to his cause."

xxx

"My King, I mean no disrespect but certainly you can't be serious about judging my ability?" Iberu asked, standing just in front of the appointed chairs in the middle of the colossal throne room. "After all, I'm one of your most valuable Archons and-"

"It's a simple enough reason my dear little omnipotent minion; you've barely just earned that title", A peeved looking Palawa Joko answered with a shake of his heavily ornament clad headdress. Although the lich was pleased to see the return of one his more viable officers who was showing remarkable progress within the Awakened ranks, Joko was even was more bothered by boundaries that were clearly trying to be stepped over. He had an unusual amount of respect towards the man, however that was quickly dwindling whenever his superiority was wrongfully questioned.

He continued, his gravely voice completely serious and devoid of any emotion. "Promising or not, I still don't trust the entire weight of my Kingdom upon your shoulders during my leave."

Wurmmarshal Ekolo spoke up from the side. "You should be grateful our King is even considering you get any semblance of supervision alongside myself during his leave of absence to the Crystal Desert", she said, trying to be a voice of reason before things got too explosive with the unpredictable ruler. The tall female Awakened was standing on the other side of her leader, looking similarly annoyed at the obvious boot licking the Mordant Crescent was trying to accomplish.

She had previously been sharing the concerning news she had recently learned of Istan's dwindling state of condition when she had been interrupted by the sudden presence that was the boastful Archon himself strolling far-too confidentially into the room.

Utumishi had also slithered his way back in behind the commotion, his face already stuck back in the pages of the book as he had wordlessly returned back to his chair and pretended to innocently ignore the drama of what he was actually intently listening in on.

Upon Iberu joining their conversation, the group had quickly shifted into the discussion of how a surreptitious yet diplomatic trip to Amnoon was in the immediate foreseeable future as it was becoming a growing concern with each passing day it went without necessary intervention. The harbor city's lack of faith towards Palawa Joko's reigning hand was deemed to be entirely unacceptable, and it was decided a change was going to need to be made before things could get become too problematic to rightly deal with.

Although it would be easy enough to send a sizable Awakened force into the city to decimate it into unrecognizable pieces, it would be far more beneficial in the long-run if dealt in a more amicable manner. It was already decided from the previous night that the undead ruler would be making a surprise visit to Amnoon in order to better understand the workings of the city and what politics they had going on behind closed doors. If there were any cracks behind that closed door that Joko could slither into, then that fault would be found and greatly used to his advantage. Years of becoming a master manipulator to these types of situations hadn't been earned without experience, and it had obviously been proven to be incredibly resourceful.

"Of course, I mean no offense King Joko", Iberu replied, noticing the tonal shift in the room as it had become nearly uncomfortable. He awkwardly shifted from foot to foot in a slight nervous gesture while holding his chin high. "I would be honored to watch over the Bone Palace alongside Wurmmarshal Ekolo during your absence."

"Such praise", Joko chimed with a lecherous smile stretched across his leathery face. "It's far better suiting for you, don't you agree?"

Iberu's mouth formed a nearly invisible line, but he hesitantly nodded and swallowed back his words. He truly wanted nothing but the highest admiration for his glorious leader, and that had to be earned with unquestionable loyalty.


	3. Booking a Trip

**I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story.**

**Author's** **Note:** This is the corniest chapter title I have ever done and I'm terribly proud of it.

xxx

_Iberu's mouth formed a nearly invisible line, but he hesitantly nodded and swallowed back his words. He truly wanted nothing but the highest admiration for his glorious leader, and that had to be earned with unquestionable loyalty_.

_..._

Archon Iberu had mostly kept his mouth shut after nearly getting his head bitten off by his most esteemed and respectable undead ruler. He was both acutely aware and even frustrated with himself that he had stepped over a line too far, and so currently he sought to make amends by instead retreating back to their previous conversation of future and upcoming politics. It felt as though he had just been dealt a detrimental blow of two steps backwards from earning more potential iron-fisted responsibilities for his rising career in the Awakened forces. And he needed to prove his worth if he was going to earn those perks back.

"I don't mean to stray from our current conversation King Joko, but may I ask of Julianna's whereabouts?" Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo asked once the verbal debate seemed to have died out for the time being. She moved over to where Grand Vizier Utumishi was still seated, grabbing the book out of his hands before walking over and picking up the other two at the table near her own rightfully appointed chair.

"I was reading that!" the adviser called out, looking quite puzzled when the pages of text suddenly disappeared from his peripheral vision. His blue eyes widened in surprise, and he looked up to see the tall female Awakened was already walking back to where she had been previously standing nearby.

"An incredible likely story my dear Utumishi", she answered back with dark sarcasm laced in her voice. Her opaque-looking eyes didn't even move towards his general direction as they instead were looking at the titles in her hand. "I haven't seen you turn a single page in that book during the entire time since you've been back in the throne room. But besides that, I didn't bring these all the way back from Istan for you anyway."

Palawa Joko ignored his now pouting adviser and still-peeved looking officer as his attention was briefly grabbed by the person mentioned. He waved a dismissive tar-stained hand and shook his head. "She's likely hiding somewhere on the perimeters and keeping out of sight. The tart manages to stay quite busy throughout the day, as she should be."

Almost as if on cue, Julianna appeared near the archway of the room, her hooded head cautiously peeking around the bone column. She had just been nearby finishing up wrapping an Awakened's arm with some tar-stained bandages when she overheard her name being used by one of her more favored Marshals from within the room. The woman's relationships with all three marshals varied on different levels throughout the time she had come to know them, but the closest of the three had been Ekolo without much contest from the others.

As if having some sixth sense, the sharp-eyed lich nearly caught sight of her immediately. "Oh! Just the person we were talking about", he said while clapping his ring covered hands together, his voice changing to a much more jovial one compared to the more dreadful and intimidating one from before. It didn't matter the situation, he would always jump on an opportunity to bother his favorite source of entertainment. "Did you just happen to come about for a visit because your ears happened to be burning?"

The undead ruler watched with immediate satisfaction as he could easily pick out the red stain stretched across the healer's freckled face even from their furthered distance.

"Doylak spit... no!" she nearly yelled back to the irritating person as her presence to the group was made aware.

"Ah, there you are healer. Come here will you? I've brought you some more texts from The Astralarium that I think you would like", Ekolo said, ignoring her superior and brooding peers while holding the books up for the woman to see. The others immediately ignored the duo once they were verbally notified of a book-centered conversation, and they instead returned to the previous conversation about the Amnoon business once again.

Julianna clicked her tongue, heading across the room while trying to pull the hood of her robe down in front of her face to hide the obvious lie of her reddened face that was betraying her. Unfortunately for her, it seemed the intimidating undead ruler had become extraordinarily good at knowing exactly how to push all of her buttons. The hairs on the back of her neck rose when she could feel the familiar pair of sunken-in eyes for watching her for the entire trip she made towards the middle of the room. As with her very first experience of walking into the room, she stepped about it like there were live landmines so as to not step upon any of the abandoned shattered remnants of bones littering the floor.

"I found some text you might find beneficial, though I certainly take no interest in this kind of material", the Marshal continued once the other woman had stopped just before her. She held out the text for her to take. Ever since learning that the wayward healer had taken an interest in books since her initial arrival at the Bone Palace, Ekolo had taken it under her own responsibility to bring new literature back whenever an opportunity could present itself. In some sort of sense she almost mothered her because of her own caring instinct, and in return she had grown fond of their little book discussions.

Julianna's eyes immediately brightened with wonder when the books were held out to her, and her hands dropped from her hood while her mouth made a curious-looking 'o' shape. She excitedly reached out and grabbed the book, quickly reading over the title which read 'Guide to the Healing Arts'.

Back in the other group just a few feet away, the three continued with their own conversation though one curious undead king occasionally snuck glances to see what was going on between the two females.

"Utumishi is going along with you on this trip to the Crystal Oasis as well then?" Iberu asked, ignoring the spectacle of the book club discussion happening just to the left of him. There were far more pressing and important matters he knew that needed to be discussed. "I would assume so, considering he usually takes charge if you aren't here."

"Indeed he will be", Joko answered simply while inspecting his hand and picking out pieces of sand lodged in the crevices of his jewelry with pointed fingers. "He's a valuable source when it comes to the discussion of politics and other civil matters. His guidance during this trip will be indubitably helpful."

"And the healer?" Iberu asked with a nod of his head towards her direction, a visible sneer on his face. His initial impression of her had been quite low already, but his first interaction with the person had only dwindled that acquaintanceship to a near-irredeemable state.

"She will also be coming along", the lich answered without much looking to the person across from him. His attention was now entirely directed to preening his attire while listening to the conversation. "Simply put, I'd be terribly bored just going with him."

The adviser huffed, crossing his arms across his chest in a show of displeasure for the obvious jab.

"What if your forces require mending?" the Archon instead asked with a kneaded brow.

"They'll be well-enough off on their own without her at least for a few days", Joko answered, dismissively waving the hand he had just been working on. "Besides, we have other Awakened stationed here as well that can do some increments of healing magic. Unfortunately it'll be lacking in the effectiveness department, but it's not like I have a sizable army waging a war against my front door."

Utumishi finally chimed into the conversation once again, leaving Iberu to skulk out of the room to find some other poor soul to bully. "My King, I don't mean to question your irrefutable greatness with this grand scheme of a plan, but certainly you can't expect to waltz into the city of Amnoon without causing foreseeable issues?" he asked, looking his ruler up and down to the cadaver-like appearance he had. "Myself and the lout will be able to walk the streets no problem, however your face is quite recognizable throughout the lands of Elona."

"Details my balding, little cabbage", the undead ruler replied as he spoke with both his hands as though entertaining a theatrical ensemble. "Although I don't much care for it, Mesmer magic has quite a few advantages we can benefit from. More-so when it comes to the illusion side of hidden appearances to fool the wandering eye."

The adviser nodded slowly while pulling on the end of his dark goatee in thought, gesturing for his king to continue. He had been pulled along on enough questionable adventures to have lasted a lifetime by now, and yet his superior was still finding new ways to broaden that scope.

"On our way there we'll be making a short detour to The Necropolis to speak with High Judge Ejele" the lich explained. "He'll be able to cast an illusion that can hide my physical appearance so I won't be so easily recognized among the common folk. I'll be able to freely waltz around the city and obtain the valuable information that I am looking for without bias."

Utumishi stopped pulling on his face hair and exhaled loudly through his nose, but he nodded once more in understanding. While he wouldn't outwardly admit it, he was looking forward to traveling to the harbor-faring city because it meant he could pick up some expensive imported goods for himself. He made note to look for some expensive incense and fine-smelling soaps that he could selfishly hoard away in his room.

Joko looked back to see his healer still excitedly conversing to his Wurmmarshal about the book she had recently received. Even though she was just a few feet away and he wasn't listening to a single word she was saying, he observed her mouth running about a million miles a minute about something that he himself wouldn't be bothered to care about. Upon looking at the impassive face Ekolo was wearing, it seemed that not even his most patient and understanding Marshal looked like she was comprehending much of anything that came from the freckled womanʼs mouth.

Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo remained standing there, her bangle covered arms crossed over her chest while obviously attempting to stay engaged with whatever rabble was spouting from the other woman's mouth. Although she appreciated the excitement coming from her peer, the female Awakened also didn't want to appear rude for acting too entirely bored with the dialogue since she didn't currently understand much of the medical world Julianna was going on about. The last she had been able to comprehend was some such thing about a healing ankh.

"Tart, we're departing north for important business in Amnoon and you're coming along in case Utumishi becomes deathly ill or some other such tragedy befalls him" Joko interrupted towards the pair with a loud voice. He watched on idly as the command immediately broke her concentration midway through whatever one-sided topic she was heatedly discussing.

Grand Vizier Utumishi stalked out of the throne room soon after, knowing there was still preparation that needed to be done in order for their trip to make headway anytime soon. He was still daydreaming about what new scented soaps he was going to be looking for during his departure of the macabre-looking fortress.

Julianna turned to watch the person who had interrupted her and was now closely regarding her with a mischievous glance, as the woman nearly forgot he was still in the room with her. Her head turned to the side quizzically as she knew from experience that it was never a good thing when he was wearing a wicked face like that.

"Ekolo had briefly mentioned it during our discussion. But what about my duties here?" she asked, concern showing in her face as she didn't want to so promptly leave untreated patients she had already started working on this morning. There were a couple of Awakened she had just tried a new healing salve on, and she wanted to be able to see by the end of the day if it was actually effective.

The Wurmmarshal answered with a bow before the two could add their weight. "It will be taken care of promptly, rest assured My Most Elegant Highness", she explained. She watched as her King moved to stand just next to the much shorter woman across from her. It was nearly comical with the height difference of the two, as the healer barely came up the middle of the undead ruler's chest.

His leathery hand moved to pat the top of Julianna's platinum bouncy curls in a reassuring manner. "See? Everything will be taken care of most urgently, my wayward doctor. Your dull day-to-day job can see a bit of a break because you'll be getting to hang out with the likes of me. Even more so than you usually do."

The healer filled her cheeks with hot air, holding on tightly to the books still-resting in her bandaged arms, wishing the limbs were free so she could swat away the opposing hand with a well placed smite spell. Just as she was debating dropping the literature a second-time over and following through with her idea, the lich stopped with his petting and promptly turned to leave the room with haste. A cacophony of noise followed after him with the sounds of brittle bones breaking under his feet and the clatter of ornaments from his costume making noise while he moved.

"Let's go. I will not permit those fools in Amnoon to exist any longer without the influence of my own magnificent name", he boasted aloud with a wide outstretch of his tar-stained arms. "But before that, I do need to retrieve some important assets in my office before we venture off."

Julianna watched his retreating back just a few moments more than she should have, and she stubbornly remained rooted to the spot in front of the appointed chairs before deciding it was in her best interest to follow along on the journey down into Bitumen Reserve again. She decided quickly enough through the suggestion that there were probably some personal items of her own that she would be needing to pack and bring along as well.

Joko waited until she was walking up alongside him before continuing with their discussion again. "You know, I think you nearly scared my poor Wurmmarshal with that trifle book talk of yours. And that's coming from an Awakened who willingly spends her time around territorial wurms that could swallow you whole the second you even glance their way."

"Well, that's because I was really excited about one of the books she brought back for me", Julianna explained, her mouth scrunching to the side as she held the object in front of her and looked over the title again. She picked at some random spot that had adhered to the front cover through age and wear. "To be completely honest, I havenʼt seen a title like this since I was living back in Lionʼs Arch."

"Is it a book on how to make you less susceptible to looking like a strawberry at every passing moment?" he asked as an obvious tease, looking down and to the side to watch her reaction.

"No!" she snapped back in a near-squeak. Her head snapped up from the book to quickly look away as her face betrayed her and did exactly what she was just accused of. Words tumbled out of her mouth without much thought of consequence behind them. "Itʼs a book on how to make you smell less bad."

"Oh-ho, but I must digress. Just last night after that wine escapade, you were telling me that you don't really mind it", he retaliated without hesitation while he poked the person's rib cage next to him for further prodding. He was hardly surprised when the action was rewarded with her lightly smacking his outstretched limb with the book she had in her hand.

"Imp gall... I did not!" Julianna replied back quickly while thinking back to the exact string of words she had used. For once, the manipulative lich hadn't actually been lying or twisting her words around. It seemed the liquid courage had inevitably brought that tidbit up a little too confidently in the night prior.

"Such an easily irritable tart you are", Joko chuckled as he continued watching the miffed looking person next to him while they made headway around the fortress. Waiting for the second her guard was down again, he swiped the book of the assaulting womanʼs hand and quickly swapped it to his other in order to keep it out of her reach by holding it up above his head. His own towering height had many advantages, but especially so when it came to torment those that were much shorter than him.

"What? Oh come on, curse you to the Underworld and back, grumpy bag of bones! Give me that book back!" she demanded, the brief stun of having her item pick-pocketed with ease quickly wearing off. She jumped up and tried to grab it back out from his grip, but she was most unsuccessful when he moved his other arm to keep her at bay. A huff of annoyance left her mouth when she realized the impossible task she was faced with.

"Iʼm only curious because you were so enticed by the thing when Wurmmarshal Ekolo brought it to you", he explained with an innocent sounding tone, turning the book back and forth to look at the spine and the cover with imitated interest. "Honestly, the only thing you should get that enthusiastic over, is if it has any relation to me."

Juliannaʼs face nearly deadpanned from the sheer narcissism rolling off the lich King and his abrasive comment. "Very funny...", she mumbled, rolling her eyes so far backwards they may have threatened to stick like there permanently. She continued trying to unsuccessfully reach for her book, though at this point she would have had to get a running jump and more so.

The dark blue eyes of the lich completely ignored the person next to him now and he quickly read the title of the text with obvious disinterest on his weathered face while they continued to walk once more. He read over that it was some medical related nonsense that he could hardly care about, but he knew it obviously held some semblance of importance to the healer given how she had been previously prattling on about it. He clicked his tongue with discontent, deciding to stretch the truth a bit with what he was looking at.

"Oh? I have to say Iʼm quite surprised you would indulge in such literature" he began, stringing together a carefully woven lie. "Aromatics For the Indulgently Curious: Among Other Useful Salves. I was unaware you suddenly had an interest in this, little one. Such pluck, as I have to say that Iʼm quite flattered."

The healer felt her freckled face nearly explode in a blossom of red coloring. She knew it was an obvious lie, but that didn't mean the suggestive comment still had a very real undertone to it. "Clever... but you know, you really are awful because we both know that is definitely not what it says. Now give it back!"

"Thatʼs certainly not how one asks nicely for things", he replied with a smug smile as he continued keeping the book out of reach. He finally stopped walking, pausing in the journey. There was no possible way she could have gotten the piece of literature unless she managed to knock him down, which was highly unlikely. And although he was aware she had a couple of smite knockdown spells, he would never let her finish off the incarnation before she even finished casting it.

"Please give me my book back", she answered while crossing her arms across her chest. Her hands remained hidden underneath them, her fingers balling into fists at her sides while nails dug into her palms from sheer frustration at this debacle. Situations like this were just further evidence of how insufferable the Scourge of Elona could truly be.

Joko waited, the lecherous smile never leaving his face as he addressed the very irritated-looking person in front of him. Getting his favorite toy this obviously annoyed, especially towards him, was a goal he never grew tired of.

Because it was all too easy of a goal to achieve.

Julianna remained stuck to the spot after his lack of response, sighing loudly through her nose as she knew he was going to drag this out for as long as he possibly could. She was incredibly well aware of exactly what he was doing, and although she would have stubbornly tried to wait it out, her patience was lacking this time around.

"How about this then? Pretty please, with a scoop of prickly pear sorbet on top?" she grumbled, sounding incredibly unenthusiastic for having to jump through these verbal hoops just to get her borrowed book back.

The lich hummed aloud and tapped a finger to his chin, as though judging the answer he was given. "A little more panache would be appreciated. But Iʼm sure you can make it up another way."

"You mean by not throwing a smite spell at your face right now?" she retorted, the words rolling out of her mouth before she could give them much thought. Joking aside, she was aware she was still talking to a being that had proven time and time again to be incredibly unpredictable. And there was a side that she occasionally saw which still enticed fear to rise up from her suppressed emotions she tried to keep down.

"Preferably something else. Though I do appreciate the direction of things moving on the sweeter side of things, as you already suggested", Joko said, holding out the book for the woman to take now.

"Am I allowed to ask for some time to think it over before I make a decision on it?", she answered, grabbing the book a little too quickly as she hugged it towards her chest. She frowned, the red coloring of her face still not entirely disappearing while watching to see if he would try and take it from her again, but she relaxed when she could see it was no longer on his agenda.

"My dear, you canʼt give that answer for everything" he replied, shaking his head at the response before walking off once more towards the direction of their current destination.

"Maybe, but I always come through with an answer, don't I?" she said with a raised brow, looking down to her right palm for a brief moment to see a dark line of a mark staining her skin. The line moved from the tip of her middle finger and down her palm before disappearing to her wrist which was wrapped in bandages.


	4. Lively Entertainment

**I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story.**

**Author's** **Note: **Kinda short and sweet. I've still been incredibly torn this time around on where to split chapters.

Also, idea for a not very-lich looking Joko comes from my friend DiesVitae (KarmicBlackHole on Tumblr), who made her own version of the character in the game and I think it looks fantastic.

xxx

_"But I always come though with an answer, don't I?" she said with a raised brow, looking down to her right palm for a brief moment to see a dark line of a mark staining her skin._

xxx

"Wait, My Most Elegant Highness, you want me to what?" High Judge Ejele asked, his tone sounding extremely skeptical of what his King was requesting from him at this very moment in time. The tall judge was dressed in tints of gold and purples, the two royal colors practically oozing royalty and an important rank among the Awakened society. His outfit almost mirrored that of what his King wore, as though the ensemble was crafted to carefully resemble the lich's own megalomaniac self-image.

Though of course, it hardly compared to the more grandiose looking attire his undead ruler wore. Only a fool would dare to match an outfit too close to their unpredictable God-King who was prone to be callously jealous of such a thing. One would simply be asking for an immediate and painful death-wish if anyone dared come even close to the undead ruler's proud gaudiness of his own tarnished gold attire.

Palawa Joko stood just before the Judge, his two accompanying associates sitting some distance away on the stone steps leading into the hallway towards the Court of the Dead.

Julianna was seated with an almost comical amount of large separation placed between her and Grand Vizier Utumishi. The adviser willingly placed as much space as physically possible between the two for a grand visual showcase of how much he truly detested the woman.

Though the duo both disliked each other greatly, they at least shared the same looks of boredom on their faces. Utumishi was trying to feign his utmost attention to the current matter at hand, but it was obvious his thoughts were divided elsewhere in the moment. His cohort did little to hide her disinterested-looking features as her head was being kept up by her hands to prevent it from slumping forward too far forward in the case she accidentally began dozing off.

The group of unusual three had departed not long after the fiascoes at the Bone Palace from earlier that morning, and they had left on the back of two raptors to make quicker haste to the bustling location of The Necropolis. The building was considered a place of great importance, seeing how it was the location in which the dead were judged whether or not they would be given the great honor to be granted life through un-death. There were three designated judges who oversaw most of the processions, and it was by their word that they deemed a person to be worthy enough to serve their beloved God-King through the glorious and macabre process of Awakening.

The hall itself resided just above The Crypts, where aisles of decorated coffins lined the candle-ridden walls descending deeper and deeper into the earth.

The Court of the Dead, where the group was currently standing within, was a massive circular room of impressive-looking architecture. The intricately tiled ceiling seemed to stretch endlessly upward, the patterns all meeting in the center towards an ornate looking chandelier of stained glass hanging just above. A grand staircase littered with bones and skulls on its steps led towards the doors of The Crypts, the two of which were encompassed by two large braziers on each side that gave the room a bright, warm glow among its sea of color. The largest structures of the room were the ever-vigilant Joko statues that stood guard over each and every procession and beneath their feet, lay a field of candles that varied in life given their well-used wicks and pools of melted wax.

Among a beautifully decorated room though, it still reeked horribly of death and decay. Even a field of overly pungent candles did little to hide the all-encompassing stench of the horrors that lay beneath its floor.

"I came all the way here because I require an illusion-spell to hide my wonderful, lich-like self. Unfortunately, I do not believe the sensitive fools residing in Amnoon will very much appreciate my more splendid undead-looking form when I arrive there", Joko answered with a greasy salesman-like smile. There were few Mesmers within his Awakened forces, and the judge was one of the very few that had any sort of considerable skill for the task needed. It wasn't that he detested the form of deception-like magic, but he found the form of necromantic magic relating to the dead far more effective and worth his time.

"I don't mean to question your plans My King, but this seems a rather excessive and unnecessary detail", the Mesmer replied, the volume of his statement tapering off in volume as he realized in very real time what the consequences could be for disagreeing with his ruler. His fingers were orderly laced in front of him, his thumbs anxiously fighting against one another behind the wall of composure.

"Oh-ho, but do you think I would doubt your prowess, Ejele? Why, I came all the way across the Desolation just to seek out your magical abilities", the lich said with an incline of his head, applying a heavy amount of compliment through the silver-lined words. He watched as the man predictably stumbled over his words and he blatantly failed to hide the red coloring staining his cheeks. The fool had been entirely too easy to sway with just a few generous spoonfuls of honeyed words.

Such high praise from his ruler had caught the still-mortal man entirely off guard, and he nervously shifted from foot to foot. "B-but of course King Joko. I am quite flattered you would think so highly of me."

"Then do get on with this ensemble, would you? I may be a patient person given my ability to cheat death itself, but I very much would like to move ahead with this entire deed as soon as possible" Joko replied hastily, his previous light tone now sounding quite devoid of any coquettish volumes.

The purple and gold armor clad man nodded quickly, biting his lower lip before raising his hands to cast the illusion spell. "This cover should last for at least twenty-four hours, give or take. And of course that is unless another Mesmer catches on to your charade and uses a spell of their own to dispel it."

"Unlikely", the lich said with a shake of his head, impatiently rolling his eyes while he awaited the incantation. "You'd better hope the deception looks good enough that everyone remains none the wiser then, yes?"

High Judge Ejele nodded and gulped, raising his shaking hands to cast the sneaky illusion. A colorful stream of purples and pinks exploded from his palms towards his awaiting King. He watched apprehensively as a cloud of dazzling butterflies and smoke completely enveloped his target and blocked anyone from seeing the immediate outcome. The man was now greatly having second thoughts about this entire matter, and he wondered about the future of his fate if the illusion was not within the desired standards.

Joko coughed, waving a hand to shoo away the remnants of the glittery and glamorous spell effects that drifted around through the space around him. He grimaced at the unnecessarily splashy illusioned butterflies floating around, and he reached out to flick and shatter the few that had stuck to his arm.

Before where a decomposing-looking immortal stood, now instead was a mortal-looking man that looked to be of Elonian descent. Rather than the decaying leathery hide of a living corpse, was instead brown healthy skin no longer obstructed by dried layers of clumpy tar.

His attire had drastically changed, though it still held a striking similarity to his previous garment. However it was not exactly the same as before so as to not arouse suspicion to any keen eyes. A gilded hood replaced his former crowned headdress, his iconic facial jewelry still hanging underneath his eyes and the ring below his lower lip remaining behind as well. His outfit was still mostly composed of white, gold and turquoise though most of the colors now look less tarnished and more bold.

He now wore an open and adorned sleeveless shirt littered with still a questionable amount of ornaments and necklaces hanging from his neck. Leggings and extravagantly pointed shoes restored the once-gnarly looking legs and feet of the lich.

One of the few similarities from his cadaver-like state was that his eye color had not shifted through the illusion, and their striking dark blue color remained. The features on his face also remained nearly as strikingly prominent as before, with high cheekbones and a defined jaw and chin that were no longer as gaunt from lack of defined muscles covering a skull.

From a stranger's point of view, he held the appearance of someone positioned within very high ranks of the Awakened, though his real lich-like identity was hidden well enough through the spell.

Joko looked down and smiled to observe his now more lively-looking palm while flexing his digits and watching the muscles beneath the skin work with the movement. He had become far too used to seeing nearly exposed tendons and bones working against one another without the stretchy canvas of lifeless skin to hide it. His head moved back up, looking past the quivering Judge Ejele in front of him still to instead see the reaction of his other two underlings back near the front entrance of the room.

Although both were separated by a sizable amount of space between one another on the steps, each held a shared face of complete awe and disbelief upon seeing the new look of their leader.

"Tart, you look nearly at a loss of words for once, do you like what you see?" Joko asked with an incredibly lively and smug looking face upon seeing the woman's obvious gawking. He held his arms outward for even further emphasis.

Julianna merely blinked at the man, seemingly coming out of some daze she had just been in. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she realized she had just been blatantly staring at the now-disguised lich without any sort of realization on her end. Her face brightened considerably, and she reached up to grab the hood of her outfit to pull over her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. She was in disbelief she had gotten too easily caught at her ogling, and it was made even worse off because she hadn't even realized she had been doing it in the first place.

The now human Joko laughed hardheartedly at the woman's current dilemma, continuing to watch as she instead buried her face behind her hands while still sputtering off some nonsensical rambling about not actually staring at him. "As always, you truly know how to flatter a lich."

"Yes, well. These charades have all been very exciting, but may we continue with our journey to the Crystal Desert at the utmost convenience?" Grand Vizier Utumishi finally spoke, interrupting his two cohort's blatant flirting. He stood up, brushing off his pants hurriedly before exiting the room promptly before anyone had a chance to see the light blush staining his own face. He would have dropped dead right there in the middle of the Court if anyone had noticed his own admiration for his now much more lively-looking ruler.

Utumishi continued as he passed under the large archway of the room. "We must be off to Amnoon before that illusion of yours wears off then."

Joko watched impassively, cocking his head to the side as he watched his wormy little adviser hastily leave the room at a much faster pace than he was used to ever seeing. He breathed in loudly through his nostrils before exhaling, stalking off to follow where the man had scurried off to and bidding a chaste farewell to High Judge Ejele. Just before passing his still-rambling healer who remained on the steps, he paused, stopping to see she still had her reddened face hiding behind her palms and had been none the wiser that everyone was now in the process of leaving.

The disguised-lich crossed the distance and moved a hand forward to seize both of her wrists with ease in just one of his own, prying them away to see a very red faced freckled person hiding behind them. Her eyes expanded considerably in size again when she realized how close the person responsible for her embarrassment now was. She had been so caught up in her mumbling to herself that she hadn't even heard him walk over.

"Skale toes... I said I was staring at the wall and not looking at you-" she tried but was interrupted when the person in front of her used his other un-occupied hand to lightly flick the end of her nose. She figured she should have expected as much the second her hands had been taken hostage like that but she still hadn't seen it coming so soon.

"I must say, teasing you is going to be quite the treat while in an illusion like this", Joko said, watching the person in front of him manage to become about three shades more red and now unable to hide anymore given he kept the tools of the trade from her in his own palm. "I trust this little diplomatic trip of ours is going to prove a greater entertainment value than what I originally thought."

"Not funny", Julianna quickly replied back without skipping a beat.


	5. Arrival to Amnoon

**I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story.**

**Author's** **Note: **Haha. Not dead.

xxx

_"I must say, teasing you is going to be quite the treat while in an illusion like this", Joko said, watching the person in front of him manage to become about three shades more red and now unable to hide anymore given he kept the tools the trade from her in his own palm. "I trust this little diplomatic trip of ours is going to prove a greater entertainment value than what I originally thought."_

_"Not funny", Julianna quickly replied back without skipping a beat._

xxx

It had taken near the rest of the day for the wayward group to make their way into the sandy dunes of Crystal Oasis. The environment around had shifted drastically as it changed from the once ragged, sulfur-ridden mountain sides to then an endless sea of shifting sands with impossibly reaching plateaus and patches of green soaked by their fields of irrigated crops. The high-rising sun that had been casting unforgiving rays onto the cracked lands of Elona was beginning to droop into the skyline ever so slowly, cooling the baked ground below. Mortals and very less-undead forms that had previously been caught in its blistering torment were beginning to give thanks for the descending temperature.

Most of the trip had Joko loudly boasting about his newly disguised self-image, which was aided by clever Mesmer magic from the Judge they had just previously visited back in The Necropolis. Every few turns of his jests resulted in a tease towards his still very flustered-looking associates, though the majority of them were directly aimed towards the easily miffed healer. He knew all too well from past experience of how he could push her buttons in just the right order to get a visible rise when she was trying to keep it hidden away. It was the greatest fuel to the fire he could have been given for his quest for endless entertainment.

Just as before when they had first departed on their journey, Utumishi was mounted upon his own raptor while Joko and Julianna shared a saddle on another of the beasts. The animals rode swiftly through the terrain with ease, their hardy clawed feet easily obtaining a considerable speed.

"Tart, are you going to miss this grandiose illusion of mine once it wears off?" Joko asked aloud with yet another lecherous, and near-perfect looking smile on his now human looking face. He kept a tight hold of the reigns controlling the beast he rode, skillfully being able to micromanage multiple tasks at once.

"Definitely not...", Julianna retorted back nearly instantly without fully thinking through her words. Even though her comment had been barely whispered under her breath, it had been heard without obstruction by the person who was but a hair's width away behind her.

"You know, you're a terrible liar little one. But I bear no grudges. We'll simply have to make another trip back to High Judge Ejele once this politically-related business in Amnoon is all said and done", the illusioned lich replied back with a jauntily filled charismatic tone. His unoccupied hand wove through the air as though he were preaching to an invisible crowd.

Julianna let out a breath of air loudly through her nose, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the proposition. She knew that his declaration was very likely going to become true at some point in the near future, though she didn't want to outwardly believe it.

After already having been caught red handed for her blatant staring at his lively human disguise back at the crypts, the woman had been less-than enthusiastic of having to share such a close space atop the raptor again so soon. The only positive note she could take away from the sudden misfortune on her part, was that being seated right in front of the flirty ruler had meant that it at least allowed her to keep face away from his all-seeing gaze.

Though that notion certainly wasn't helped when she could still feel his eyes looking through the back of her head when she didn't immediately turn around and respond to his verbal cues. If she stubbornly decided not to turn around to address whatever comment he had made, he would instead bother her by letting a hand sit comfortably atop her waist or upper thigh as he rotated between the two positions. She wanted to smite the smile off his far-too handsome face every time he chuckled.

Julianna had thought he would have run out of verbal ammunition by the time they reached the bordering wall of the Desolation.

Obviously not.

She also found herself wondering along the way if anyone in Tyria had been able to die from sheer embarrassment, because she was quite confident she could become a prime contestant for it.

It had been bad enough already with Utumishi constantly scoffing under his breath whenever a comment was hurled her way, but it became even worse when they passed through the scattered adobe houses of The Bonestrand. She would have given ten gold pieces just to know what those poor people were thinking when they likely overheard the brazen suggestive-sounding comments as they rode past.

xxx

The group of three had come upon the outskirts of Amnoon just as the sun was beginning to set more steadily now. The surrounding landscape now mostly consisted of small clusters of palm trees and underwater vegetation that was being tended to by the hardworking farmhands who planted them. An overzealous ranch hand on standby was quick to greet them before they could make any more headway into the approaching cityscape. The young man kindly offered to take the reigns of the raptors while he explained there was a proper ranch to house the creatures just north of the city.

Joko had impassively nodded at the suggestion and waved him away to complete the task, deciding it was a job most unfit for someone of his high-status anyway.

The lich, healer and civil adviser continued on the path towards the inner sanctum of the city, following a well-imprinted dirt path across a short bridge.

Julianna was currently focused on the many rows of tents as they passed by the allocated area housing them on their right hand side. She could see people anxiously moving about with wounds and injuries left untreated, and she was fighting with herself to stop right there in the middle of the path to allow her bleeding heart to do what she wanted. They passed by a few more rows of similar looking patients before she unconsciously made a step to go towards the wounded, though she was prematurely stopped by an outstretched hand before she could make much headway.

Joko had stopped her the second she crossed right in front of him to cut across his path. "Tart, while I may I may find your blind ambition painfully and adorably naive, we donʼt have the time for you to go play doctor right now", he ordered strictly as he pressed on the small of her back to push her back toward her original spot to the left of him.

Grand Vizier Utumishi was hardly paying attention to the squabbling dispute between his peers, and instead focused on whether or not his benevolent ruler's illusioned disguise was properly working to the unseen eye. It seemed safe enough so far, as no one within the tented area even spared them a glance while they walked by. It set the timid adviser's nerves at rest, at least for now. All his undead leader had to do now was to ensure his unpredictable personality was on its best possible behavior and he didn't explode into some random fit of unforeseen rage that would give them away.

Utumishi inwardly grimaced at the conjured images of a megalomaniac, rampaging Joko yelling obscenities in Amnoon and Awakening the civilians every which way in his death-conjured path. He was continuing to regret coming along on this trip more and more.

The healer in their group stubbornly tried pushing against the hand that impeded her, not quite set with the answer she was given. "But... those people are in need of medical aid...", she said before hesitantly falling back into the same place once more. She tried to crane her neck around to look back at the limping person that had just shuffled by their group.

"The blatant matter of fact though, is that itʼs not your responsibility right now", Joko said with a cold tone as he looked around to all the people within the camp. "Besides, your job is to help heal the undead ones from falling apart anymore than they already do."

"But-" she tried but was quickly interrupted with a single ring encrusted finger pressed to her mouth to prevent her from talking anymore.

"And besides, why delay the inevitable for some of these poor fools?" he said with a horrible smile as he kept the digit plastered against her lips a few seconds too long. "After all, theyʼll be under my ruling thumb all the more sooner."

Julianna merely winced at that comment, as it was a blatant reminder to just how cruel the malevolent lich could be when he wanted.

xxx

The three now stood within the bustling market center of Amnoon. A large fountain sat within the open room, the sound of its cascading water overtaken by the other sounds of the market life. People were busying themselves every which way possible while voices danced around, most folks carrying goods or purchases to their designated places. There was a tasteful aroma on the air, shared between the nearby crowded restaurant and various food stalls lining every which way. A few cavaliers equipped in heavy armor strode through the crowds atop raptors, scanning the sea of people for anything out of the ordinary.

This was currently the busiest time of the day for the city, as everyone was trying to complete their daily tasks and routines before the lack of sunlight indicated the day's end and everything began to close up.

"Would look better if it had some banners in my name…" the disguised lich mused aloud to no one in particular, looking around at the lack of his influence on the interior design. "I wonder if I could inquire about setting up some kind of stall here to sell statues of myself as well."

Utumishi nodded, making a mental note to save that potential decision for the future. "Well, my Ki-... I mean. My… good associate. What are we to do while we're here?" he said, nearly slipping of habit to say 'my king'. He knew he'd be disintegrated right then and there into a stain on the floor if he were to accidentally unveil the magical disguise his ruler had been supplied with.

Joko had been looking off towards the direction of Amnoon's Civic Center, tapping a finger to his chin. Having known very little of how the politics worked within the city, he figured he could gain a substantial amount of knowledge just by lingering around the place and listening in on reckless conversations. Even better if he used his charismatic nature and new disguise to possibly even butter some poor naive fool out of some delicate information.

Anything to work in his own favor at an eventual and possible takeover of this blight of a city.

"I'll likely spend the rest of the afternoon hanging around the asinine inner-workings for intel. It's mundane work for someone like myself, but the more I know, the better I'll be able to gouge this pathetic establishment from the inside out", he explained while extenuating the plan with a choreographed hand.

Julianna grimaced at the usage of expressive imagery. She was busying herself instead by looking around at all the living people going about their day-to-day lives. Living among the Awakened had nearly made her forget what it was like to not be stuck around in a castle that constantly smelt of death and sulfur. There were the instances of course when she was brought along on visits to the expensive palaces and such, but that was still closely in the presence of Joko and the other Awakened.

She had been watching some of the laughing children zip through the crowds chasing one another before her observation was interrupted.

"And what of us?" Utumishi asked, pulling on the end of his long goatee in question.

"Run along and occupy yourself with whatever for now. Just donʼt get into any trouble or cause an unwanted scene", he warned with a waved pointer finger. He then turned it towards the woman next to him as he pressed it to her forehead. "Especially you."

Julianna swatted his hand away with an exasperated sigh. "Very funny... but I wonʼt."

"You say that now...", he quickly replied back as he knew from the experience the woman had a knack for finding it.

Even if she didn't mean to.

xxx

After Joko had walked off to go to his inquiry, the adviser and healer were left to their own devices until their ruler had decidedly collected enough information he felt satisfied with. Julianna hadn't even a clue of what she wanted to do with the sudden gift of free-time, so she followed a very reluctant Utumishi around the market stall area for some odd amount of hours into the late afternoon. He hadn't been entirely opposed to his least favorite person tagging along, but he didn't completely deny the idea either.

That was so long as she didn't speak to him.

The two were currently stopped at some custom made soap stall, the short man nearly giddy with glee upon discovering new scents he had never tried before.

Julianna stood by, trying her best not to look bored with their current situation as the man next to her felt the need to smell every single bar of soap that could be purchased. For the most part she had just silently followed behind, only offering opinions on merchandise if asked. Had she not been reluctant on the initial notion of walking around the city without a familiar person, she wouldn't have even followed the civil adviser in the first place.

Even as much as Palawa Joko prodded and badgered her at nearly every opportunity, the healer did realize it was quite dull without being in his presence. There was a glaring difference between the teasing that he and Grand Vizier Utumishi displayed towards her. Joko's teasing was usually playful whereas Utumishi's teasing was just mostly out of pure spite.

It certainly spoke levels about the disposition she felt between the both of them.

The woman watched on inquisitively, as once again her balding peer had tried to sneak a less-than obvious glance over towards another market stall just down the ways a bit. At this point she had feigned it was no mere coincidence he kept looking down there. She glanced down to the area, seeing another middle-aged man with a near-contagious smile tending to some kind of fossilized ambrites that contained various preserved insects.

She blinked, suddenly putting all the pieces together.

"Huh, I just noticed you've been looking at that guy quite a bit over the past few minutes", Julianna finally spoke up after a long turn of silence, turning her head curiously. "Why donʼt you go introduce yourself?"

"And say what?" Utumishi snapped back, his tone sounding less than amused that his staring had just made apparent. The fact she was openly butting into his own personal business was even more infuriating. "Do you think he'd be impressed to know there's practically a walking piece of ambrite right next to me?"

The healer shot a nasty glare back towards the slimy worm of a man since the comment had obviously been a dig towards her own personal misfortune of having a living scarab imbued into her arm. She crossed her arms across her chest, unconsciously trying to hide the one in question from a scolding glare.

She knew no amount of nice-smelling soaps would rid this man of his cruel demeanor.

Utumishi only rolled his eyes when he saw the wisps of blue flames beginning to dance outwards from the fingertips he could still faintly see. He returned back to his ogling of the merchandise on the table in front of him. "Oh please, donʼt tell me the lout is actually offended at that. Besides, you wouldn't dare make a scene here in front of all these people right now. Our King would never forgive you."

Julianna mumbled a stream of inaudible curses under her breath, knowing full well he was right. Slowly, she let the smite magic disperse again and instead worked on deciding what else to do with the current free time. It was obvious that her cohort didn't want her around right now, and quite frankly she didn't want to be around him either after the unnecessary comment he had made towards her.

Any thoughts of wandering through a strange city alone had been entirely forgotten, and the woman pushed her way past the market alleyway to head towards the central bay area instead. She figured it would do her some good to get away from the stuffiness of the claustrophobic market and to instead get some fresh air to try and clear her riled up head. Mostly though, she just needed to get away from the slimy worm of a man because she wasn't sure if she would be able to hold back a second time from actually melting him into the ground from an accidental smite spell.

As she stormed off, she had been completely unaware of a pair of curious eyes from the shadows watching the entire scene of the healer and civil adviser unfold.

Xxx

Julianna arrived in the dock area, the location much less busy than that of the previous part of the city. She was far more comfortable with how peaceful this area of the city was instead.

Boats and ships of various sizes were either docked or already sailing out into the awaiting sea on the horizon. The majority of the vessels were fishing boats, their decks littered with nets and spears to harvest the bountiful resources of the surrounding water. Hungry seabirds floated in the reddening sky above, hoping for the opportunity of even a scrap of food to accidentally drop from clumsy boat swains.

The still-miffed healer had been leaning against one of the railings looking out into the main loading area, her head resting atop her crossed arms while she looked outward and tried to calm her thoughts. There was a light, salty breeze pushing itself through the pyramid shaped buildings and tests, the air occasionally ruffling her loose curls and making her hair look even more untamed than usual.

"Ye' from around here lass?" a voice suddenly asked, moving to lean against the same railing. He was about average height and his skin darkly tanned with a thin-looking build. His scrawny stature was mostly obscured by the layers of coats and patchwork clothing he wore. A well-worn bandanna covered his head, his greasy hair hardly contained by the piece of fabric.

His eyes twinkled with feigned sympathy when he could easily read the woman's face and see how she was obviously still bothered by whatever events had transpired back in the market. While he wouldn't admit it to the person he had been watching, he had observed from afar at the entire thing unfolding and had found the two to be quite the interesting anomaly. It was enough for him to follow after the woman and keep her in his sights until he finally decided to approach.

"No, I'm not", Julianna replied, hoping the stranger's sudden curiosity would be sated so she could be left alone again. Her eyes darted to the person to the right of her for just the briefest of a second, quickly taking note of the man's rugged-looking appearance. He had his head propped up by an elbow, and she caught sight of a dark tattoo on his wrist looking like an 'x'.

Everything about this man screamed 'pirate' to her.

Her eyes snapped back out towards the water in front of her. She certainly was never one to judge based on first looks, but personal history of once working in a small clinic on a sea-faring harbor had made her quite experienced in dealing with particular folks like this. It was history that had felt like a lifetime ago in her life, but it was certainly not long lost.

"Obviously. But ye' obviously ain't from around 'these' parts", he continued, continuing to watch her to try and make a judge of character himself. "So where ye' really be from?"

A huff escaped from Julianna's mouth, and she looked out towards the billowing furls of sails that moved around in the still harbor water. "Skale toes you're persistent... if you must know, I'm from Lion's Arch originally. I worked in a small clinic there up until my boss decided to send a charter here to Elona for an… important task."

The truth hadn't quite been told of what really entailed her arrival to this location, but it also hadn't been a flat out lie either. She was simply choosing to ignore some of the more impending events that followed after her arrival to Istan all those years ago. She was hoping it was just enough of a stretched lie to satisfy the stranger's unusual curiosity about her background.

"What kinda' important tasks?" the man prodded, not content with her answer still. He could tell the woman was suspicious, since she was obviously beating around the bush rather than just flat out giving him the information he was asking for. And as a pirate who was a natural professional at a skill such as lying, he could tell when another was quite bad at it.

"That would fall under my own patient confidentiality and need-to-know work discretion" she answered back without skipping a beat. Her face moved back from the harbor and to the pirate's greasy face again. There was a sudden pang of magic surging through her arm, but that was decidedly ignored for the time being as she was more concerned with the encroaching stranger in front of her.

The man laughed, a deep rumble from his belly. His grimy-looking fingers scratched at the stubble on his face that very much needed a shave before his eyes darted down to the very object that had originally caught his interest.

"Tha' ring on your hand says otherwise lass", he spoke, eyes looking at the piece of jewelry that was adorning the woman's left middle finger. Doctor or not, he knew no one in that profession would be able to afford something like that, especially considering the turquoise gem encrusted into the embedded scarab beetle on the gold setting.

He continued, his tone turning to something of that far more dangerous now. "Why don't ya' start telling me the truth then, aye?" he nearly whispered, moving upon the other person's personal space. The air around had become near stifling, and he knew he had caught his prey in a trap.

Julianna could feel the color drain from her face and a breath hitch in her throat. She should have known better considering how well she knew pirates and how they had a keen eye for most shiny things. She swallowed, her throat now dry as she tried to think of a better twist of words to help fabricate her backstory while she tried to hide her ring embedded hand behind her back.

Before anything further between the two could be said, a rather shrill voice came bounding down the staircase towards the harbor.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to find your worthless hide?" Utumishi nearly yelled, his face red with anger as the color disappeared into his high collar. Unfortunately for him, Joko had returned from his politician-fueled mission to find him flirting with the fossilized ambrite merchant and no Julianna in sight.

Joko had been quite displeased to notice the lack of a healer anywhere within the immediate vicinity. It wasn't that he thought the stubborn little woman was helpless on her own since he fully knew from past experiences she very much wasn't when left to her own devices. But it was rather because he ultimately still didn't trust her.

Utumishi was already peeved enough that his previous flirtatious conversation with the merchant had to be prematurely ended, and his annoyance was made even worse when he had been sent to fetch his least favorite person in the world. His benevolent ruler had claimed he made the work that much easier because he had sent a swell of magic to locate her exact whereabouts.

"Aye, now there's a face I actually be recognizing", the pirate sneered, eyes glaring at the familiar face approaching the group. He stepped back up again to allow breathing room between him and the unknown stranger.

The adviser let out a chortle as he walked up to the duo in the harbor and heard the comment clear as day. He scowled at the rag-tag looking fellow and eyed him up and down with a high level of scrutiny. "Oh? And am I supposed to know you?"

"Nay, you needn't be", the pirate continued while examining the filth under his cracked nails. "Yer' face has been plastered on bounty boards quite a few times though. Rumors spread fast on the seas that anyone that would dare go after the likes of you, would simply just be wantin' a death wish."

"Am I supposed to take that as a threat then?" Utumishi asked back, raising an eyebrow towards the other man now. He wasn't about to be intimidated by some low-life bottom feeder such as this.

There was a long, uncomfortable stalemate between the three before anyone decided to finally breach the silence.

"Nay, you shouldn't", the pirate finally answered with a chuckle as he looked back to the woman he had just been questioning. Back at the market, he had been bewildered when he recognized the mug of one of Palawa Joko's most loyal followers, but he had been quite curious as to who else was accompanying the infamous civil adviser.

He continued. "It just means this strange lady here is likely somehow important too. Just as ye' are, the oh-so, most wonderful and pronounced Grand Vizier Utumishi."

"I think we've had quite enough of this conversation then", the adviser replied briskly, his tone laced with displeasure at hearing his full name and title spoken so boldly. It bid no one in their party good news to know that even a pirate such as this had easily recognized his face. His anxiety rose again at the thought that inevitably someone was going to figure out who was underneath the illusioned Mesmer disguise his ruler donned.

Utumishi turned around to leave back towards the stairs without bidding any proper goodbyes. "Let us leave, we don't have time to stand around sharing nonsense with some sea rat such as this."

Julianna nodded quickly in agreement, and jogged across the threshold to catch back up with her cohort. She never thought she would be grateful for her least favorite person actually showing up in an uncomfortable situation, even when she was still upset with him. But this had proven to be one of those rare times.

Upon walking away, she could feel the hairs on the back up her neck standing up on high-alert and a cold sense of dread sweeping across her skin. The sense that a lecherous pair of eyes stalking her were making her increasingly restless, and it lingered behind even after moving completely out of sight.

She simply hoped that encounter would be last time she would have to deal with the scummy pirate again anytime soon.


	6. Dinner Date

I don't own anything except for my OC, Julianna Fyre and any of my original ideas that are incorporated into the story.

xxx

_Upon walking away, she could feel the hairs on the back up her neck standing up on high-alert and a cold sense of dread sweeping across her skin. The sense that a lecherous pair of eyes stalking her were making her increasingly restless, and it lingered behind even after moving completely out of sight._

_She simply hoped that encounter would be last time she would have to deal with the scummy pirate again anytime soon._

xxx

After the situation with the mysterious stranger in the harbor, the three had met back up within the market center of Amnoon once more. As compared to before, the area was much less lively with its routine activity as stalls and businesses were beginning to close down until the day renewed the next morning. Few folks were now wandering about the location, as most people were just beginning the premonition to a more clamorous nightlife scene. Although the city life had dwindled considerably with the depletion of daylight to help guide the day, a new chapter awoke to those that enjoyed the more entertainment-fueled side of the city.

A big contender to the bustling nightlife stemmed from the reason that Amnoon harbored a rather popular casino, which was evidenced by the gratuitous amount of patrons lingering near the large building at the south side of the city. Another more busy area was the large restaurant housed on the opposite side, as many of the hard-working busybodies were quite enthusiastic to the idea of purchasing a well deserved meal and drink following the toiling amount of work from the day.

Joko and Utumishi were busy lightly discussing the discoveries of the political spectrum the city seemed to currently be leaning towards. Through idle gossip and petty conversation of Joko's snooping that day, the disguised lich had quite quickly picked up on the fact that Amnoon had strongly and proudly remained independent with no clear indication of picking a side anytime soon. He had picked the brains of some poor unfortunate souls about picking sides with a certain undead King, but he had been quite unimpressed to find the immediate distaste the supposed politicians had outwardly expressed when the idea was brought forward.

It was a near miracle he hadn't blown his cover for a show of death-filled theatrics right then and there when the words had been so callously thrown towards his face.

Even disguised or not.

Julianna meanwhile was mindlessly observing the ring on her finger while her thoughts remained completely elsewhere, her other hand moving over the indentations of the scarab design. The encounter with the intrusive pirate had left her feeling like there was a bad bit of bile behind in her throat, and she couldn't help but wonder about the possibilities of why such an confrontation had occurred.

After her and Utumishi had rendezvoused once more with Joko in the market center, neither of them had brought up the previous situation of the pirate to him. Both seemed to have silently agreed that one or the other was likely bound to discuss the pirate ordeal to their ruler at some point in time. But neither were too keen on bringing such a frivolous thing to someone who very likely wouldn't care even an ounce towards the matter.

"With that being said, I do suppose I've completed the task I set out to do here", Joko surmised, looking back towards the area he had been mingling around for most of the afternoon. The information he had learned was valuable, and the next steps would be to plan out just exactly how he wanted to enact a better foothold on the city without simply coming in with an assaulting force.

"How wonderful to hear we are one step closer to potentially extinguishing this possible insurgency of a city", Utumishi praised, his arms folding behind his back. While he certainly held no doubts that his ruler could accomplish such a feat, it did quell some of his anxiety that this trip would be a wasted journey.

"Indubitably", Joko replied, clasping his hands together with finality on the topic. "Now then, I do feel quite famished after all the work I completed here today, and I wouldn't be too entirely opposed in getting something to eat."

"Perhaps it isn't my place to ask... but disguised or not with that illusion of yours, I don't believe it suddenly gave you a stomach", Utumishi replied with a dry-sounding tone, raising a brow towards his superior. He knew full well that an undead immortal had no requirement to eat, but that didn't mean the notion couldn't still be carried out.

"No, but that doesn't mean I cannot indulge in the entertainment of fine foods once in a while", the disguised lich replied back with slight irritation behind his voice. He certainly didn't need his adviser telling him what was and wasn't possible. "Amongst the obnoxious amount of prattle I endured earlier today, I also heard a great many compliments towards the restaurant here during my endeavor to acquire more useful information to my benefit. And what better way than to satiate a new experience of flavors and broaden the horizons."

Although an immortal life had long since disbanded the need for such daily requirements of food and sleep, Joko had adopted quite the strange habit of becoming quite the bit of a food snob among his life of undeath. It was nearly ironic that the lich held such high expectations considering his lack of need for the sustenance anyway.

"I see. Well, as much as I would love to join you my King, unfortunately I do have other plans this evening at the casino that I must attend instead", Utumishi then explained, tugging at his collar and looking back towards the market area of the city. "If I wasn't having to play search and rescue for such a bothersome lout earlier, I would be more keen on accepting your offer."

"More important than me? I find that unbelievably improbable and-" Joko tried, briefly sounding to be in utter disbelief before he was interrupted.

Julianna's ears had suddenly honed in when she heard the unfortunate yet familiar nickname Utumishi used for her. "Is this about that merchant we saw at the market earlier today?" she asked, her attention now diverted from the piece of jewelry on her hand.

"What? How did you- I mean, no it isn't! And even if it was, it certainly wouldn't be any of your business anyway to stick your nose into", the adviser snipped back all too quickly. He veered his burning face away from his two cohorts to try and hide the embarrassment clearly shown on his face. It was just his luck that the bothersome woman had immediately figured out his plans. He cursed her impeccable timing for poor words to the Mists and back.

The healer waved a single teasing finger towards him at having the opportunity to finally get back at him from his rude comment though. "Doesn't feel too good to have someone else sticking their nose in business where it doesn't belong, right Utumishi?."

If glares could melt, the now incredibly annoyed-looking adviser surely would have incinerated the single wagging finger being pointed towards his general direction into nothing but ash. "It's times like these when I wish the lout had been left in the desert for the vultures to pick your bones apart..."

Before the healer could heatedly retort with some premature comment of her own, Joko finally intervened in the squabble. He threw a complacent arm around Utumishi's shoulders. "Well, with this new information handed to me, I will certainly bear no grudges and harbor no ill will to this new little plan of yours. Do run off and have a good time then."

"O-of course King- I mean. Yes", Utumishi nodded, carefully peeling the arm from himself. It was frustrating enough that the healer knew of his potential romantic life, but it was exponentially even worse when it was his boss. Grievances aside, he would take the chance that his benevolent ruler was ever so graciously allowing him to run off to attend this little get-together.

Joko cleared his throat to command his audience and continued. "Ah, before I forget and we run off to our own escapades for the night. While you two were running around in the harbor occupied with whatever dull task of yours, I did take the initiative to procure our group two hotel rooms for the night."

"Hold on, what do you mean there's only two rooms-" Julianna tried, her face already warming at the notion of what that implied but she didn't get a chance to inquire further.

"Ironically enough, it's a quaint enough hovel that I deem acceptable enough for a person of my statute. Though to be fair, it could do with a bit more of skeletal remains and Awakened abominations roaming about. It'll be just down the way from that casino you're headed off to", Joko explained boastfully, completely ignoring the flustered sounding question of the woman next to him. He fished around in his satchel for one of the keys and plopped the thing into the awaiting hands of his advisor. "Oh, and one last thing."

"Yes?" Utumishi asked, not liking the sound of his boss' voice turning deceptively sweet in that last part.

"Don't do anything stupid enough that would compromise this entire rendezvous to this blister of a city, do I make myself clear?" Joko threatened, his tone laced with venomous intent. Although they still had quite some time before the Mesmer illusion entirely wore off, it still meant their masquerade could have the chance to be exposed. And he'd be damned if it were allowed to become undone by some foolish mistake.

"I... yes. Of course. Understood quite clearly", the other man nodded quickly, stuttering on most of his words. He knew well enough through watching the mistakes of others what would happen if he did indeed fail on that promise. Even with years of loyal servitude under his own belt, Utumishi knew well enough of how easily he could be replaced.

"Well then, don't do anything I wouldn't do then!" the lich concluded, his previous sickeningly sweet and jovial tone returning, though it did very little to hide any of the discomfort from his peers.

xxx

The disguised Palawa Joko and a slightly nervous healer made headway towards the renowned restaurant after parting ways with Utumishi for the time being. Julianna was still feeling weary of possible pirates wandering about the area and eavesdropping on conversations, but the grumbling of her stomach far outweighed her previous worry once they approached the dining establishment. She figured it also wouldn't hurt to indulge in a couple of drinks to help ease her nerves a bit more as well.

Though past experiences certainly taught her to watch how much she was drinking.

The duo sat at a small table near one the upper sections of the restaurant, both currently browsing through the menu as curious eyes darted around at the various displayed dishes.

The place was quite busy with activity, the majority of its tables filled with patrons. Sounds of happy chatter floated around in the air, the choir of music from a nearby band on one of the second levels just barely overtaking the sound. Staff were constantly moving to and from the kitchen, balancing filled and dirtied plates back and forth with the endless stream of orders coming through. The dinner rush had always proven to be restless, but it was a practiced dance for those familiar with the play.

"Tell me tart, have you grown tired of my wondrous disguise yet?" Joko asked aloud at the shared table between the two, flashing another complimentary smile towards the person across from him. He momentarily placed the menu back atop the table, still entirely unsure of what he actually wanted to eat. Food could always wait, there was more fun to be had in tormenting his healer with well-picked words.

"Yes, incredibly", Julianna lied. She moved her own menu upwards as a temporary shield to hide her own reddening face. Her eyes scanned over the words in an attempt to focus, though it hardly looked passing. This nonsense had been ongoing the second they had been shown to their seats, and it hadn't seemed it was going to end anytime soon either.

The disguised lich drummed ring-covered fingers across the table's surface with a less-than satisfied hum. He looked around at the mortals seated around them, still finding it quite the abnormality that he wasn't the center of attention in the room for once in his prolonged life. Through the Mesmer magic was helping to disguise his undead appearance, the citizens had remained completely oblivious to his glorious, true identity. He wondered how quickly the mood of the room would change on a copper piece the second anyone found out.

His brooding thoughts were broken by the sound of Julianna making some disgruntled noise while she was still reading over the contents of the menu.

"There's a whole lot of plates on here that have... Choya in it… I find that to be rather odd, don't you?" she asked aloud to no one in particular.

He raised an arched brow, his dark blue eyes briefly scanning the contents of the menu without much interest before intermediately returning to people watching. "I'm somewhat fond of it."

Julianna had kept the menu raised to hide her face, but her brows scrunched closely together through the possible implication of those words. In a rare occurrence, she bit her tongue, deciding not to press the comment further.

Joko leaned back in his seat with a melodramatic sigh, throwing an arm over the back of his chair after getting his fill of observing the petty common folk. He figured it'd only be a matter of time now before their whole world was turned upside down anyway. "I'll just indulge in what I normally do and order the most expensive meal from the menu and leave it at that. You can never go wrong with that."

The woman still didn't emerge from her defensive wall of paper, but her freckled face was scorned with a rather unimpressed look to his apparent solution. It had been nothing but a self-fulfilling boast to the immeasurable wealth the lich held within his claws, and it hardly dazzled the modest healer.

"Fine then, a suggestion of what to order, if you would hear it", he began cordially, though the corners of his eyes crinkled in mischief which spoke levels of his deceitful tone.

"Go on then grumpy bag of bones, what would that be?", she replied back lamely. It felt as though she was walking directly into a well-placed trap, and she was the innocent prey willingly about to do it.

"I was thinking of steamed lemongrass mussels, with a side of grilled asparagus", he explained, pointing at the descriptions of plates in question on the menu before leaning his face atop his hands on the table. "Oh, and some kind of chocolate dessert to top it off."

There was prolonged silence on the other reciprocating end before its owner bravely peeked over the rim of the menu. It was evident through even the sliver of appearance that the woman's face was painted in such a deep red color that it would have made even a ruby blush.

"Really?...", she muttered with an unsteady breath, not daring to make eye contact with the person across from her right now. Even with the gilded piece of paper protecting her, she knew he was gazing at her with that ever-knowing grin plastered on his stupidly handsome face. "I shouldn't be surprised you know what those foods share between one another."

"Oh-ho, do tell", Joko began with a growing smile on his features. "I'm completely naive to that comparison and would never have guessed they have something in common. Does the good doctor want to share something with her patient?"

As if some unforeseen God had been watching the spectacle of a conversation and decided it needed to be cut prematurely, the discussion was interrupted by the waiter returning back to their table to take an order. "Did you both decide what you wanted to order tonight?" they asked, seemingly unaware of what had just been shared.

"Any kind of alcoholic drink. Please", Julianna answered quickly enough that it was barely made comprehensible. "Just… something strong."

"Of course", the waiter replied slowly, jotting a couple of words down on the notepad in their hand. "And how do we feel about ordering food?"

"The most expensive and lavish plates your chef can possibly create", Joko answered with a near-sickening tone of greed while handing over his menu to the server.

He nearly let out a bark of a laugh when the woman across from him had to finally relinquish her tool she had been using to hide her face from him. Her mouth was set in a near invisible line, a deep blush of red descending all the way down from her forehead to her neck. If embarrassment needed a showpiece for definition, then it was obvious who would be its grand example.

Joko smirked, turning to the waiter once again for another recommendation. "Do you suppose you have any tart-like desserts that could properly match the color of this woman's face right now?"

"Not funny!" Julianna shot back, crossing her arms across her chest. The reminder for how well-suited her nickname certainly hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

"I'll uh… I'll have to ask our chef about that...", the waiter said. They mumbled some nonsense about the strangeness of the couple under their breath after turning their back and walking away to fulfill the order.

The restaurant in Amnoon had certainly seen stranger people in its time, but this bizarre couple was certainly up there in its ranks.


End file.
